Intelisys Aviation Blog

Where does Google+ fit in the travel industry?

In a world dominated by social media, the major platforms have come to strongly influence people’s decision making for many parts of their lives. Google+ has risen over the past few years since its conception to the second most popular social media platform, behind only Facebook in the number of active users. The platform has been working to saturate nearly every industry, and this includes the travel industry. As Google+ grows it is changing not only how travel companies reach out and communicate with their customers, it is also changing how customers make selections for their upcoming travels.

How Google+ is influencing companies

Many travel companies are looking to integrate their pages with Google+. This integration will allow customers to sign in with their Google accounts and interact fully on the page using the available social features. Companies then will also be able to review the customer’s profile information along with their connections and their information, which can be very helpful for marketing. It will also enable interactive posts. For example, someone can login with Google+ to book a flight, and then show their connections that they booked the same flight. The post announcing their booking can then be displayed along with a link to book a ticket to the user’s connections on Google+.

How Google+ is influencing customers

Since Google+ has integrated with the Google Local Places, they have consolidated the information customers use when selecting everything from local restaurants to hotels in other cities. For example, Google has recently created an integrated Hotel Finder. This program on Google+ prominently displays the reviews for a particular hotel it has received along with Google Maps to make it easier for customers to select a hotel when they are on the road. Since these listings will be so easy for Google+ users to find and share, it is becoming increasingly important for all those in the travel industry to have a Google+ page so they can be included.

As a dominant social media platform, with an estimated 343 million users, Google+ is quickly beginning to play a prominent role in the travel industry. Companies can not only use the platform to reach their clients, but also clients can make decisions and select their preferred providers easier. Participating actively in social media can help ensure that travel companies benefit from these developments rather than being left behind.